Luigi Orione was born of a poor family in Italy. His father Vittorio was a street paver and his mother Carolina was a very devoted person. Orione really enjoyed going to the fields with his mother to glean, to the parish, the oratory or to the choir and he never used to miss bringing flowers to Mother Mary even in the winter season. Luigi in fact showed inclination and yearning for all that is good. If Luigi would see any youth sitting wasting time in the street he used to disturb them by raising the dust in order to chase them from there. Orione was a very devoted person. Once when he heard some bad words he soon ran to the church and washed his tongue with the holy water then he asked God that he would better die than use these bad words. Luigi Orione grew with the intention of becoming a priest. Once a friar asked him if he liked to serve the Lord; At that time Orione’s heart was overflowing with joy.
He eventually managed to join the Franciscan order but due to bad health he had to leave the monastery. On 4th October 1886 he was accepted at Don Bosco’s oratory. There he was very much inspired by the saint’s teachings. When Don Bosco died his body was displayed in order to allow people to venerate him. Orione cut some bread to touch the body of Don Bosco with, as relics to distribute to the people, but while doing so in hurry he cuts his index finger. He was scared because at that time he would not be allowed to become a priest without that finger. So he ran to Don Bosco, touched his body and suddenly the bleeding stopped and the wound got healed.
He eventually became a priest in the diocesan seminary on 13th April 1895. Before he could become priest, at the age 21 he founded the Congregation called the Little Work of Divine Providence.
He was a great devotee of Mother Mary, in fact he used to ask mother Mary for whatever he wanted and he used to get it by his faith.
During his first mass he asked for 3 graces for those who would follow him: bread, peace and paradise and eternal salvation for those in any way would come in contact with him or his work.
His 4 main ideals were: Love for Jesus, for the Pope, for the souls and for mother Mary. His motto was: “restore all things in Christ”; his life style: pray and work. From the time he was a seminarian he was ready to die, if necessary, in order to defend the Pope. On march 1912 he went to Pope Pious X to make his religious profession, but he needed 2 witnesses, so the Pope said: “our guardian angels are the witnesses”; thus Don Orione offered himself to God, to the Church, to the Pope and to the souls.
When in 1908 an earthquake struck Sicily he went there in order to help them. He worked day and night without taking rest. He used to say that there he lost half of his life.
In June 1915 he founded the Little Missionary sisters of Charity, to serve the poor and the destitute. In order to raise vocations for his congregation he used to write letters to all the parish priests to send to his congregation all those poor boys who are interested; he would accept them without any fees. He was a most zealous and prudent promoter of all that can help religious sentiments in the hearts of simple, so he built shrines to our Lady, churches, oratories, hostels for the poor boys etc.
Madonna of Safe Keeping shrine was built by his own priests and seminarians. However his works of mercy spread around the world especially in Latin America. Now we, the Sons of Divine Providence, are present in 32 countries.
He was called by God to heaven on 12 March 1940. Before he would die he repeated “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus I am coming”.
On 16 May 2004, Pope John Paul II proclaimed him a saint.
“ONLY CHARITY CAN SAVE THE WORLD”
[DON ORIONE]
Bro.Raju FDP
Monday, July 13, 2009
Novitiate
Novitiate is a year which signs the first time experiencing the religious life. Novitiate is derived from the Latin word “novus” which means new.
We Anthony Cruz, Lenish, Raju and Santhosh have joined our novitiate on 15th of May 2007. Fr. Philip, the delegate superior had received us into the novitiate and placed us under the guidance of Fr. Oreste, the novice master.
The uniqueness of our batch is that the four of us represent all the four states of south India i.e. Bro. Anthony from Tamilnadu, Bro. Lenish from Kerala, Bro. Raju from Karnataka and I from Andhra Pradesh. Is it not unique?
We began our journey with a spiritual retreat led by Fr. Wilson Parekattyil [Schoenstat fathers] for a week, which has helped us to have a good idea of what we had to do this year; and how this year is special and important for our future life.
In this year we had classes about the Charism of Don Orione, our father and founder, which were taught by Fr. Lawrence Tosatto who helped us to understand and become good Sons of Divine Providence. The Constitutions of The Sons of Divine Providence and human maturity were taught by Fr. Oreste who helped us to be able to analyse our emotions and use intelligence to act according to it. We also had classes on Prayer again by Fr. Oreste, during which we experienced different types of prayer such as meditation, contemplation and personal prayer etc.
During this year we had some Inter novitiate gatherings in which all the novices of our area took part. In these gatherings there were seminars on
1. Creativity in Liturgy
2. Communication and community building
3. Consecrated Life [ Evangelical vows]
4. Mysticism
5. Discernment
These gatherings helped us to be able to communicate well and fearlessly with others.
Every Friday we went for apostolate: you may find better information about it in the article by Bro. Anthony Cruz. Once in a month we had recollection which was guided by different priests.
In the middle of the year we went for a week to Kollam where we have a house in an Island called Joseph’s Island, in order to review our first part of novitiate by praying and meditating on the 3 vows, poverty, chastity and obedience in silence.
We also had a trip to Hogenakal water falls which are in Tamilnadu, there we experienced the beauty of nature and had a good relaxation.
At the end of the novitiate we went to Mysore where there is a Spirituality Centre of OCD fathers for the annual retreat to prepare for ourselves for the first religious profession. During this we prayed and experienced the love of God and the call of the Lord as it was led by Fr. Lawrence fdp. Thank you
Bro. Santhosh Kumar FDP
We Anthony Cruz, Lenish, Raju and Santhosh have joined our novitiate on 15th of May 2007. Fr. Philip, the delegate superior had received us into the novitiate and placed us under the guidance of Fr. Oreste, the novice master.
The uniqueness of our batch is that the four of us represent all the four states of south India i.e. Bro. Anthony from Tamilnadu, Bro. Lenish from Kerala, Bro. Raju from Karnataka and I from Andhra Pradesh. Is it not unique?
We began our journey with a spiritual retreat led by Fr. Wilson Parekattyil [Schoenstat fathers] for a week, which has helped us to have a good idea of what we had to do this year; and how this year is special and important for our future life.
In this year we had classes about the Charism of Don Orione, our father and founder, which were taught by Fr. Lawrence Tosatto who helped us to understand and become good Sons of Divine Providence. The Constitutions of The Sons of Divine Providence and human maturity were taught by Fr. Oreste who helped us to be able to analyse our emotions and use intelligence to act according to it. We also had classes on Prayer again by Fr. Oreste, during which we experienced different types of prayer such as meditation, contemplation and personal prayer etc.
During this year we had some Inter novitiate gatherings in which all the novices of our area took part. In these gatherings there were seminars on
1. Creativity in Liturgy
2. Communication and community building
3. Consecrated Life [ Evangelical vows]
4. Mysticism
5. Discernment
These gatherings helped us to be able to communicate well and fearlessly with others.
Every Friday we went for apostolate: you may find better information about it in the article by Bro. Anthony Cruz. Once in a month we had recollection which was guided by different priests.
In the middle of the year we went for a week to Kollam where we have a house in an Island called Joseph’s Island, in order to review our first part of novitiate by praying and meditating on the 3 vows, poverty, chastity and obedience in silence.
We also had a trip to Hogenakal water falls which are in Tamilnadu, there we experienced the beauty of nature and had a good relaxation.
At the end of the novitiate we went to Mysore where there is a Spirituality Centre of OCD fathers for the annual retreat to prepare for ourselves for the first religious profession. During this we prayed and experienced the love of God and the call of the Lord as it was led by Fr. Lawrence fdp. Thank you
Bro. Santhosh Kumar FDP
Sunday, July 12, 2009
The Vow of Fidelity to the Pope
We live in a world which is becoming pagan once again, as far as the faith is concerned, and it is the faith above all, and the love of Jesus Christ which must rebuild the world.’
Bring closer to the evergreen plant, which is the Church, the scattered and separated branches of the plant which is the great Christian and human family, and they will become green once more; gather the thoughts of all the generations and all races and of the centuries and all will come into a bond of faith, hope and love whose heart will be the Pope on earth and heaven above. Let
us truly give the world a universal brotherhood in truth and in the fatherhood of the Pope’। (St. Luigi Orione.)
Bring closer to the evergreen plant, which is the Church, the scattered and separated branches of the plant which is the great Christian and human family, and they will become green once more; gather the thoughts of all the generations and all races and of the centuries and all will come into a bond of faith, hope and love whose heart will be the Pope on earth and heaven above. Let
us truly give the world a universal brotherhood in truth and in the fatherhood of the Pope’। (St. Luigi Orione.) We the Sons of Divine Providence are one among the congregations who have the Forth Vow of Obedience to the Pope. The special goal of our congregation is to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ, of the Church and of the Pope, especially among the people of working classes and the poor in a special way to draw and unite them to the Holy See, with the gentlest and closest ties of the whole heart and mind.
Our Founder Don Orione had a real passion for the Pope, for unity of the Church and salvation of the souls, which could not remain only of a spiritual level, but it inspired the whole spirituality and apostolate of the Little Work of Divine Providence and specifically the rule of life
In our congregation obedience due to the Supreme pontiff and our particular distinguishing charism, find appropriate expression in the profession of the forth vow of special faithfulness to the Pope. With this we oblige ourselves to full acknowledgement of hierarchical authority in the Universal Church and unconditional adherence to his magisterium and his programme, and most absolute availability for whatever he decided with regard to us for any services in any part of the world, so as to fulfill charism as indicated by the motto: “Re-establish every thing in Christ, so that there may be one flock and one Shepherd”.
Don Orione wants us to toil and sacrifice ourselves with all works of spiritual and corporal mercy, so as to spread the love of God and the Pope and cause to grow, especially in the heart of the little ones and the poor and those afflicted by different misfortunes and pain so through this we are able to ‘Re-establish all things in Christ, so that there may be one flock and one shepherd.’ We the Sons of Divine Providence are sworn guards of the Pope. It is not enough for us to give him full support in mind, in heart, in deeds in the apostolate but we give every thing, sacrifice every thing, and offer ourselves completely as living victims
We live and work for the Pope in all the parts of the world in order to fulfill his desire and love; we present ourselves to the poor and the needy as the representatives of the Pope and the Church because the Pope is the gentle Christ on earth and love of Pope is the sweetest love on earth. As Sons of Divine Providence we have been sold and consecrated our life to the Pope
In the Pope we recognize not only the Vicar of Christ, not only the infallible Head of the Church inspired and led by the Holy Spirit, not only the foundation of our religion, but also the unshakable rock of human society
Bro. Lenish P. L. FDP
Don Orione in India a Story of Long Roots.
3 March 2002 Fr. Oreste and Bro. Michael landed at Shiva International airport in Mumbai, waiting a local connection flight who would bring them to Bangalore.
15 June 2002 is signed in the diary of the house as the official opening of our community then resident in OMBR Layout – Banaswadi, and the arrival of the first 9 boys.
This 2 dates are commonly considered as the birthdays of our Congregation in India.
Every birth is preceded by a pregnancy period in which the foetus develops till it becomes a full fledged person. In the case of our presence in India the gestation period was a really long one.
It was on February 1989 when Fr. Joseph Masiero, then General Superior of the Sons of Divine Providence was invited to India by an Italian sister of the congregation of the Sisters of Charity to see the possibility of opening a house for handicapped children in the Hassan District of Karnataka. What he saw filled him with enthusiasm and he came home with a clear idea: India is our new “promised land”. It was actually not the first time that the name India and Don Orione had crossed paths. Already in 1986 some Indian priests from Goa, working in the islands of Cabo Verde, had approached our sisters there, offering the possibility to come and work in a leprosy camp in their home land. The then Mother superior considered the proposal as too tough for that moment and so she neglected it.
In order to prepare the foundation Fr Masiero started the screening process among the confreres to find suitable candidates. The choice fell on Fr. Angelo Quadrini, who was stepping down as delegate superior in England and Bro. Oreste Ferrari, then student in the third year Theology in Rome. The mission was set to start officially in the second half of 1990. In December 1989 Fr. Angelo Mugnai, then General Counsellor in charge of missions, came again to India accompanied by 2 lay volunteers: Mr Francesco Piras & Ms Francesca Montaiuti. They came to Hassan, found a place where to stay, then Fr. Angelo went back to Rome and the two volunteers started approaching the authorities for all the needed burocratic procedures.
When Fr. Oreste was ordained priest in September 1990 and started preparing bags, news reached that the mission of India was not going to be. The two volunteers had been sent out of the country and had given a negative report to the superiors, considering mission India as too difficult and dangerous. Mission India had become Mission Impossible. Priority was then given to a call from Cardinal Sin of Manila (Philippines). In October 1991 Fr Luigi Piccoli and Fr. Oreste, Francesco and Francesca landed in the far east asian country. After one week Fr. Masiero died in a car accident in Venezuela. Mission India, considered now a dead project, was instead budding slowly underground.
In Manila our missionaries had the chance to cooperate with a very active priest: Fr. Balthazar Gude (now Monsignor), from the Diocese of Eluru (Andhra Pradesh) and later on the congregation accommodated the same in Rome for his studies at the Angelicum Pontifical Institute. As a token of gratitude, Fr. Balthazar invited Fr. Roberto Simionato (General Superior) to visit his diocese and other dioceses in Andhra (Hyderabad, Kurnool). The door was getting open again.
In the meantime the scarcity of qualified personnel in the medical field had forced some of our institutions to outsource staff from abroad. Among the comers were a group of the Sisters of the Destitutes to work in our house in Lopagno (Switzerland). The local director, Fr. Diego Lorenzi had the chance to come and visit their main quarter in Aluva (Kerala).
By the time of the General Chapter in 1998 the Mission India was again on the agenda of the General Council to decide.
People were again screened and sent to London to study English. In year 2000 our confreres started coming and going, having as European bases London, and Bangalore as the Indian one. At the beginning they were guests at Yuva Vikas, seminary of the Somascan fathers, and then rented a house in Banaswadi. The experiment endured for about 18 month, during which Fr. José Luis Simionato from Argentina, Fr. Geraldo Campos from Brasil, Fr. Lorenzo Benzi from Italy and Bro. Michael Iatalese from England had the time to investigate opportunities, study possibilities, evaluate problems and difficulties. Fr. Philip Kehoe, the Delegate superior of the English province, had come to visit several times. He even approached Bishop Ignatius Pinto of Bangalore asking permission to open a community in his diocese. Permission was granted. By now the long prepared dream seemed to have become a stable reality.
Not all the problems were over though. By the beginning of January 2002 it was time to plan for the definitive arrival of the new Indian candidates. Our four confreres could not agree on how to organize it and on the opportunity to do it. They reported to Rome asking for the experience in India to be put to an end.
Fr. Roberto Simionato, taken aback by the sudden decision, was not disheartened. To his mind came the fact that many years earlier Fr. Masiero was thinking of Fr. Oreste as a possible choice for the new mission. He picked up the phone and re-launched the proposal.
Fr. Oreste was then working in Jordan and far from thinking of a change, but he then accepted the challenge and here we are at the 2 March, date mentioned at the beginning of this article.
“God will make a way where there seems to be no way”. So goes a popular devotional song. What so many times seemed to be a forbidden dream, an unreachable goal, is now (after 6 years) a beautiful reality. 9 religious of whom 2 with already an experience as missionaries in Argentina and Italy, 2 novices, 7 postulants, several seminarians from 5 states. These numbers which make now the Congregation proud of being in the asian country, would not have been possible, should God have not worked in his mysterious way.
Don Orione too, in heaven, is now proud of his new sons and surely planning, together with the heavenly Father, for some more bright horizons to reach in order to “Instaurare Omnia in Christo”.
Fr. Oreste Ferrari FDP
3 March 2002 Fr. Oreste and Bro. Michael landed at Shiva International airport in Mumbai, waiting a local connection flight who would bring them to Bangalore.
15 June 2002 is signed in the diary of the house as the official opening of our community then resident in OMBR Layout – Banaswadi, and the arrival of the first 9 boys.
This 2 dates are commonly considered as the birthdays of our Congregation in India.
Every birth is preceded by a pregnancy period in which the foetus develops till it becomes a full fledged person. In the case of our presence in India the gestation period was a really long one.
It was on February 1989 when Fr. Joseph Masiero, then General Superior of the Sons of Divine Providence was invited to India by an Italian sister of the congregation of the Sisters of Charity to see the possibility of opening a house for handicapped children in the Hassan District of Karnataka. What he saw filled him with enthusiasm and he came home with a clear idea: India is our new “promised land”. It was actually not the first time that the name India and Don Orione had crossed paths. Already in 1986 some Indian priests from Goa, working in the islands of Cabo Verde, had approached our sisters there, offering the possibility to come and work in a leprosy camp in their home land. The then Mother superior considered the proposal as too tough for that moment and so she neglected it.
In order to prepare the foundation Fr Masiero started the screening process among the confreres to find suitable candidates. The choice fell on Fr. Angelo Quadrini, who was stepping down as delegate superior in England and Bro. Oreste Ferrari, then student in the third year Theology in Rome. The mission was set to start officially in the second half of 1990. In December 1989 Fr. Angelo Mugnai, then General Counsellor in charge of missions, came again to India accompanied by 2 lay volunteers: Mr Francesco Piras & Ms Francesca Montaiuti. They came to Hassan, found a place where to stay, then Fr. Angelo went back to Rome and the two volunteers started approaching the authorities for all the needed burocratic procedures.
When Fr. Oreste was ordained priest in September 1990 and started preparing bags, news reached that the mission of India was not going to be. The two volunteers had been sent out of the country and had given a negative report to the superiors, considering mission India as too difficult and dangerous. Mission India had become Mission Impossible. Priority was then given to a call from Cardinal Sin of Manila (Philippines). In October 1991 Fr Luigi Piccoli and Fr. Oreste, Francesco and Francesca landed in the far east asian country. After one week Fr. Masiero died in a car accident in Venezuela. Mission India, considered now a dead project, was instead budding slowly underground.
In Manila our missionaries had the chance to cooperate with a very active priest: Fr. Balthazar Gude (now Monsignor), from the Diocese of Eluru (Andhra Pradesh) and later on the congregation accommodated the same in Rome for his studies at the Angelicum Pontifical Institute. As a token of gratitude, Fr. Balthazar invited Fr. Roberto Simionato (General Superior) to visit his diocese and other dioceses in Andhra (Hyderabad, Kurnool). The door was getting open again.
In the meantime the scarcity of qualified personnel in the medical field had forced some of our institutions to outsource staff from abroad. Among the comers were a group of the Sisters of the Destitutes to work in our house in Lopagno (Switzerland). The local director, Fr. Diego Lorenzi had the chance to come and visit their main quarter in Aluva (Kerala).
By the time of the General Chapter in 1998 the Mission India was again on the agenda of the General Council to decide.
People were again screened and sent to London to study English. In year 2000 our confreres started coming and going, having as European bases London, and Bangalore as the Indian one. At the beginning they were guests at Yuva Vikas, seminary of the Somascan fathers, and then rented a house in Banaswadi. The experiment endured for about 18 month, during which Fr. José Luis Simionato from Argentina, Fr. Geraldo Campos from Brasil, Fr. Lorenzo Benzi from Italy and Bro. Michael Iatalese from England had the time to investigate opportunities, study possibilities, evaluate problems and difficulties. Fr. Philip Kehoe, the Delegate superior of the English province, had come to visit several times. He even approached Bishop Ignatius Pinto of Bangalore asking permission to open a community in his diocese. Permission was granted. By now the long prepared dream seemed to have become a stable reality.
Not all the problems were over though. By the beginning of January 2002 it was time to plan for the definitive arrival of the new Indian candidates. Our four confreres could not agree on how to organize it and on the opportunity to do it. They reported to Rome asking for the experience in India to be put to an end.
Fr. Roberto Simionato, taken aback by the sudden decision, was not disheartened. To his mind came the fact that many years earlier Fr. Masiero was thinking of Fr. Oreste as a possible choice for the new mission. He picked up the phone and re-launched the proposal.
Fr. Oreste was then working in Jordan and far from thinking of a change, but he then accepted the challenge and here we are at the 2 March, date mentioned at the beginning of this article.
“God will make a way where there seems to be no way”. So goes a popular devotional song. What so many times seemed to be a forbidden dream, an unreachable goal, is now (after 6 years) a beautiful reality. 9 religious of whom 2 with already an experience as missionaries in Argentina and Italy, 2 novices, 7 postulants, several seminarians from 5 states. These numbers which make now the Congregation proud of being in the asian country, would not have been possible, should God have not worked in his mysterious way.
Don Orione too, in heaven, is now proud of his new sons and surely planning, together with the heavenly Father, for some more bright horizons to reach in order to “Instaurare Omnia in Christo”.
Fr. Oreste Ferrari FDP
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